Dual Missions: Progress and Probe!

I can see you're serious about this. Good. Time to put my years of rigorous training to full use.

Now, prepare to witness the power of my all-Cryo Fungi team!

This all looks like regular Floral Jelly. It's right out in the open for everyone to see, and they've even put the recipe on the table.

Hmm... Well, it's not like we can just take them away and go investigate them. That'd be stealing, right? We'd probably be disqualified, and might even end up getting arrested by the Corps of Thirty.

Oh, but... we do have a Kamera! How about we take some pictures of the Floral Jelly and its recipe? At least then, we'll have a record of all the important information.

Miko, we're sorry! It was all Bongo-Head! We didn't know it would take Souka out so quickly...

Oh? Did she look crestfallen and say something melodramatic like "beyond the reach of mere mortals"? Then curl up on the ground and start wailing?

Uh yes... to all of those, actually. You know her really well, huh...

It's better this way. Souka will turn this experience into valuable writing material. She'll be able to portray the protagonist's journey with all the setbacks they face along the way much more compellingly. It will resonate all the more with readers.

As for how to flesh out the villain — dominating, ruthless, but brilliant, and ultimately victorious — the inspiration will have to come from you. So don't go getting yourselves knocked out of the competition by some second-rate wannabe, hm?

Oh no, I'm the villain...

That's a conversation for another time! Miko, please ask Souka to go easy on us when she writes us into the novel!

Traveler, Paimon, and Miss Yae... *cough*

Layla, take it easy, don't go fainting on us...

I'm alright... So I wrote to the Amurta students, and they were really keen. I got a reply with the information I needed within just a few hours.

I've tried making a few different snacks for Twirly-Whirly based on the information they gave me, but it didn't seem to like any of them... Maybe I used some of the wrong ingredients, or something.

So then I made a new, improved list, and also included ingredients that might suit Bongo-Head's taste. I didn't go to bed until way past midnight, so I'm a little out of breath today...

How'd you get the results so soon? That was super quick!

(Lack of sleep explains the tiredness, but not the breathlessness...)

How's it going, my Little Layla? Have you been teaching your opponents a lesson?

Yep! Thanks for taking us training, Miss Yae. Twirly-Whirly is way more obedient now, and it reacts so quickly, I'm actually kinda envious...

But the opponents have gotten stronger too, so the pressure is on. I gotta train with Twirly-Whirly some more if I wanna have a shot at getting into the quarterfinals.

The problem is... I'm also planning to visit the Almighty Merchant at seven in the morning tomorrow to buy all the ingredients I need...

Oh, that's no problem. I'll join you with your training session, and we can leave the little ones to buy the ingredients. They're quite the experts in running errands.

Sounds like you two help out Miss Yae quite often, huh?

We sure do! We love helping Guuji Yae...

Ahh! Right, yeah! Please don't turn us into scary, evil bad guys!

Don't worry, Little Layla. They're just apologizing to me for defeating Souka. Go buy yourself a nice drink, take a break, and catch your breath.

Thanks so much! Ahh, you guys are the best!

This is the address where I arranged to meet up with the Almighty Merchant. And here's the list of ingredients. Thanks again...

Hey, it's our pleasure! You helped us look into Bongo-Head's preferences, remember? Glad we can return the favor!

As for the potential liabilities we didn't have time to discuss earlier... One good place to start might be the Fungi power-up materials.

Floral Jelly?

Why, this is the most exciting sub-plot of the novel: the secret investigation. I'm sure you must be curious about where the magical powers of the Wisdom Orb and Floral Jelly really come from?

Besides, if we fail to uncover what's really going on in this tournament, we simply leave Haniyyah to her own devices... who knows what chaos might ensue.

Uhh... This is suddenly sounding super complicated... Paimon isn't really following...

I suggest that you act just before sunrise, while most people are tired and resting. You may find some important leads.

Should we really take Miko's suggestion?

Well, it's literally what we signed up for.

Yeah, you're right. Okay, let's wait until early tomorrow morning and go check out the Fungi power-up place...

Don't worry, Bongo-Head, you're not under suspicion or anything. We just wanna make sure everyone stays safe in this competition.

Impossible... My team has been defeated...?

Phew, that was a hard-won battle... You and your buddies put up a good fight, Bongo-Head!

Done! We should ask an expert to analyze these photos... But we're kinda running out of time. Let's go buy Layla's stuff first!

H—Haniyyah?

You hold yourselves to pretty high standards, coming here so early to power-up your Fungi. No wonder you've made it this far.

Haniyyah, we need to talk! Your plan you told us about last time, it's way too extreme...

Save your breath. If you think I'm wrong, start by defeating me. Then you can show me why exactly you think your opinion is correct.

She won't listen to us at all... How did things end up like this? Paimon thought we were getting along pretty well at first!

Alright, fine... Come on, Bongo-Head, there's no time to mope.

Layla's note says that this is where we should be meeting the Almighty Merchant...

The looks on your faces tell me you're searching for the Almighty Merchant, yes? Welcome, welcome!

Yeah! How did you know?

Wait, Dori? Ah, so you're the Almighty Merchant Layla mentioned?

Why so surprised? Every vendor and customer in the Grand Bazaar knows that Lord Sangemah Bay possesses the widest and most magical range of goods.

"Almighty," "supreme," "omnipotent"... These and many more are my exclusive epithets. Any other merchant thinking of using one can forget it... unless they're prepared to pay millions of Mora in licensing fees!

Huh, guess Paimon should've known...

Yeah yeah, whatever, but back to business. I'm surprised that Layla sent you here on her behalf... I suppose she must be busy enjoying the beast-tamers tournament, hmm?

Sounds like you two get along pretty well. You know a lot about what's going on!

Hehe, it has nothing to do with getting along. Layla previously bought a few things from me. They weren't the most valuable goods, but it was still a lot of Mora — for a student.

So naturally, I now keep tabs on her activity. Which is why I know that she's taking part in a very suspicious tournament!

Mm-hmm. Something just didn't feel right. As it happens, I do have some goods I'm trying to get off my hands — they're a little hot for my liking, but so far, no takers... They're also taking up space. So I think I'll just give them to you.

Umm... This is just a bunch of spare parts and random notes...

I'm told that this is a device and some documents that the organizer attempted to destroy.

But they were careless. Some people will scavenge through anything hoping for a chance to get rich. Sure enough, someone fished these out of the water and sent them to me.

Now that Paimon takes a closer look, this looks similar to the recipe for Floral Jelly. And these parts look like they came from a Wisdom Orb.

Maybe they were used during the experiment phase? Let's hold onto them for now and have Miko take a look later. Maybe she'll notice if there's anything fishy about them.

I think we can safely assume that...

Yeah, seems like our worries were well-placed after all... But Paimon still wants to hang out with Bongo-Head...

I don't know what you two are talking about, but it sounds like these items might prove useful to you. Tell you what — I'll give you a discount! 60 million Mora, thank you for your business!

Huh!? Why, you sneaky little...

Hehehe, I'm just kidding! No one gives a hoot about these items except for you and the matra. We have other business to do today. Consider this a little extra I'm throwing in to sweeten the deal.

Show me Layla's list. I just need to know what she wants. Once I've finished stocking up the goods, I'll send someone to deliver them to her so that you don't have to.

That's a relief! Paimon thought all our efforts were gonna go down the drain... We couldn't afford that price even if we won the top prize...

Here's Layla's order list.

Hmm... flour mixed with Matsutake powder, vintage Jam, Zaytun Peach Juice... Is this really the Fungi diet? How did Layla even find that out...?

I can't believe it... I lost, that's it... *sigh*

It seems that the "Guests of Tenshukaku" have powers beyond the reach of mere mortals like me.

Oh no, did we go too far? Souka's taking this pretty hard... Miko said it was fine to not hold back, but she'll definitely be mad at us when she sees her in this state...

Paimon's freaking out... Okay, we should just go apologize to Miko. C'mon, Bongo-Head, put on your best guilty face!

Traveler, Paimon. This day has come earlier than I had expected.

My apologies, but my writing career is at stake here, and my reputation in Lady Yae's eyes... I can't allow you to beat me.

Bring it on!

Don't get too cocky, Souka! We won't go easy on you!

Traveler, Paimon, I saw you guys made it to the next round. Congrats!

Hey, Layla! You're looking well today, and Twirly-Whirly looks really happy! Guess you won your last round, too?

It was a close call, I only won by a hair... I'm so glad I trained with Miss Yae beforehand.

Also, the Almighty Merchant just sent someone to deliver the stuff I ordered. Thank you so much! I'm gonna go catch up on some rest with Twirly-Whirly now...

*whine*... My stamina's running low... Let's keep the volume down.

Speaking of Miss Yae... where'd Miko go?

She left in a hurry with Souka. I guess they must have had something urgent to do. Also, I think they were escorted by a mercenary from the Corps of Thirty...

When I returned to the arena, they were already quite a distance away. It didn't feel right to run after them and ask what they were up to...

Could be. Miko has been putting a lot of time into the tournament lately, so Paimon wouldn't be surprised if she had a lot of Chief Editor work to catch up on.

She also said that she wanted to look for inspiration while enjoying her vacation. The mercenary was probably just their tour guide. We shouldn't worry about it!

The quarterfinals are coming up. To me, this is the most important round... I'm a little nervous, but let's all do our best!

Yeah! We've all done really well to come this far in the tournament. Keep it up, Layla!

We mustn't let our guards down, either.

Right, we have to stay vigilant! Okay, let's take some photos of the items we got from Dori to add to the ones we took this morning. We'll show them all to Miko when we see her next.